LEWISTON – The piles of books stretch for nearly 50 feet, heaped upon end-to-end tables. Among them are paperback romances, dictionaries, illustrated geography books and children’s stories.

All are in French.

The books will become the backbone of Lewiston’s newest library – a free-of-charge creation of the Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary’s.

“It’s not a money-making thing for us,” said Rita Dube, the center’s executive director. “It’s part of our mission.”

The library has been planned for years, as a hub of French learning. Until now, however, most of the work at the center has been focused elsewhere, from the ongoing masonry on the building’s exterior to changes in the upstairs. There, in the grand former nave, a performing arts center has been created.

The center was always meant to be more, though. A library has always been part of the plan. Supporters envision regular visits by schoolchildren and other activities designed to encourage learning about the region’s heritage.

It’s the kind of work that has been growing.

For instance, monthly gatherings titled La Rencontre (The Meeting) are now drawing nearly 200 people to the center for lunch and entertainment, all in French.

Attendees are fined 25 cents each time they lapse into English. The aim is to give local French speakers the opportunity to practice together.

The library would give people another place to practice their language skills.

“We hope to be running in one or two months,” said Dube. However, before that can happen, someone must catalog the books. There are at least 3,000 of them.

A local college student plans to begin the cataloging next week, Dube said. But there will be even more books in the future.

The center has become a destination of Canadian book drives through Le Conseil de la Vie Francaise en Amerique, which translates as The Council of the French Life in America.

The Quebec-based organization collects donated books then shares them with U.S. groups that are working to preserve the language.

Their first shipment to the Lewiston center arrived two weeks ago. A second included 33 cases. Some of the books are new. Others have been used in homes and schools.

There may even be enough to give to other groups, once the cataloging is complete and the number of duplicates is known, Dube said.

The first distribution could begin with the next meeting of La Rencontre.

“They can’t wait to start taking some books home,” Dube said.